1988 S10... turbo volvo powered

06-24-2011

couldn't sleep so I bench tested the dizzy... and tunerstudio picked it up perfectly... so I added the ignition portion (wow that mallory coil puts off some spark)

so it bench tests in all aspects... also forgot I mentioned that I finally got the tps on the TB (hack saw + jb weld method)

so I hope to get things together on the truck tomorrow and see what happens

06-30-2011

no pics today but I finally got some time with the truck... finished the engine to frame ground and hooked the battery up to verify chassis electrics worked and the starter pushed... all was going good...

then I pulled out the test light to verify that the wire i'd read in ALL the wire wright ups and diagrams was a proper switched 12v and had power in run/crank... seems EVERY one of them was always on... the only one that was working as it was supposed to was the starter 'noid (worked only in crank as it should)... I know the switch had been a little touchy when I was working on it with the stock engine and with some further reading it seems like I suspected... the switch is bad... for some reason (prob theft retardant) they mounted the electrics to the not far from the firewall on the column and connected it to the ignition key with a metal rod...

so I began to pull things apart... figured i'd yank out most of the interior so I can get it cleaned up and run the MS to where i want neatly/easily... pulled out the seat and then the floor mat stuff (was the rubber kind)... found at least 15lbs of sand on the floorboard under the torn up floor pad... also yanked out the dash... TONS of sand/dust in that truck...

so i'll get a new switch in there and we'll go from there... once I get that in i'll work on getting the MS hooked up.

06-30-2011

What are your plans for the rest of the truck?

I'm building this around the plans of making it to the GRM $2011 challenge... although at this point i'm more thinking $2012 lol... so things will depend on budget... at the moment i'm in about $450 after I get around to selling stuff from the volvo...

so I want to make it fun/decent for auto-x and i'd love low/mid 13 in the 1/4... it's a toy... but I want to be able to use it day in/day out if needed

a 4/5" drop... up front plan to use 2" drop spindles and cut GM springs (need to spend some time on figuring out spring rates) eventually (depending on budget) tubular upper control arms with tall ball joints (better camber gain), for the rear drop i'll be staying with leaf springs for now and hope to avoid drop blocks... would eventually like a 3 link rear end but that will again depend on budget and how she handles/hooks... bilstein shocks all around, 4dr blazer sway bars (largest GM OEM that fit easily)... and at some point will need to box the frame (supposed to stiffen it up a ton)

i would like a manual gear box but is all that would really fit into the budget would be a stock volvo unit and I think i'd be better off with an aw71 + a monster trans cooler and keep a stash of junkyard boxes on hand...

for power i'll be limited on the small rod block... but i'm keeping my eyes open for a good big rod block... thinking NA for the c/r bump (auto-x/street fun)...

have a few other thoughts... but this is the main stuff.

07-01-2011

well spent some more time last night on the truck, got the switch in and it did nothing... go figure lol... so went back to my alternator setup... apparently that was it... I'd followed the s10 wiring info... seems it's not quite right if using a volvo alternator... so i'll go back to the GM alt... no biggie there... just a matter of dealing with the pulley...

anyway to test I just hit the hot wire of the fuse box to the battery... switched stuff worked perfectly... untill the lock cyl stopped working... so I pulled it... now off to get it replaced... and return the ignition switch (thats what I get for just swapping parts with out testing lol)

so once I get that in i should be good to get the MS wire and going... doh...

07-02-2011, 04:02 PM

... 2 words....

SHE RUNS...

vids to follow ...

07-02-2011, 04:52 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C48-dhMSQug&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBQ1Ae21dwI&feature=player_embedded

got the sensors wired up and there is about a 10* temp dif between the GM MAT and the bosch coolant sensor... good bit of smoke (leaky turbo + it's sat for about 5 years) leaky intake... worst one was at the brake booster... I plugged those and the vac leaks quieted down a ton...

the turbo leaks so bad past the hot side that it blew oil all over the firewall (no exhaust... and no exhaust gaskets for that matter)

the wiring is UGLY right now... i'll get it perma wired here soon... along with the million mile long list of other things I have to do to get everything finished so it can be driven :)

07-02-2011, 09:30 PM

so watched the vid again and noticed the map wasn't moving... forgot to plug the 3 way hose i'd used to extend the hose... capped it off and the idle got much smoother ...

now I need to find a freakin 90+ mani so I can get the tdo4hl on there... in the mean time i'll work on the odds and ends that I need to do

07-05-2011, 09:16 PM

workless update...

found a '90+ manifold...

will prob be a week or so before I do any real work... I need to go though stuff and start selling things so I can buy and have $$$ for some of the stuff I need... namely a wideband o2 and having that driveshaft made...

think my next step will be working on the crossmember then time to yank the drivetrain to clean up the engine and the engine bay (25 years of nasty + white firewall = ugly) thankfully a friend of mine said I could barrow his pressure washer

07-15-2011, 12:30 PM

well after some time of having family in town and a shipping snafu I got the '90+ manifold today... have another week before I spend 2 weeks out of town... so won't get much done this month...

10-13-2011, 01:48 PM

so 3 months later i've got an update lol...

(posted on other forum few days ago) sold my old DSLR earlier this week so I can buy my wideband 02 and exhaust tubing... the only big buy after that stuff to have it running/driving will be the driveshaft.

(today) got the $$$ to the bank today... ordered my wideband... went with the 14point7 SLC DIY 2...

sold the GM transmission yesterday... if i take the scrap metal I have from the s10 (engine block and other bits) i'll easily have a "free car" based on GRM challenge recoupe rules.

i've also gotten most of the stuff to sell from the volvo together so i'll start selling that... should have plenty of stuff to come out even on the car... but if not the scrap value of the body is worth about what I got it for...

so after I part the volvo and the s10 enough to my recoupe limit and not including the weld wheels and t3/t4 turbo kit i'm just over $400 in the budget...

I plan to tune it with the wideband but will run with the narrow band for the challenge so that qualifies as a tool and no hit to budget...

also looking on CL for a few bits... going to need a drives side window soon... lol

10-13-2011, 04:15 PM

woot... just looked and the 3" mandrel grab bag showed up on ebay... hope to get at least 2 45's... but whatever I get it shoudln't be a prob to make the downpipe... beyond that the exhaust will be either a stright pipe with turn down or I MIGHT run a muffler of some sort depending on how loud it is (would be good to hear detonation...)... so we'll see.

10-19-2011, 08:40 PM

3" mandrel bend grab bag from ebay came in... shouldn't have a prob building something nice with this... :)

10-20-2011, 06:06 PM

more good stuff today...

engine pulled from a '93 with a bunch of extras... not sure if it's truly a '93 engine(big rod/oil squirter block) (or why it had an early style IC on it) but i'm very hopeful... will get it out tomm. and sometime next week dig in a little bit to find out... going to be so psyced if it is at least a big rod block... was a very tight fit getting it in... and with how my engine hoist is prob be more difficult to get out... but it'll happen From Instant Upload

also got my SS tdo4h/L turbo oil feed hose from ebay... lost the other one and ordered it before I knew I was getting the "new" engine From Instant Upload

10-21-2011, 09:16 AM

ok it was much easier getting the engine OUT of the volvo then it was in...

good news and bad news... it's a '90 build date... so has the important upgrades just not the pistion oil squirters :(...

but considering it should be easy to "free out" in the challenge budget its a super awesome buy

10-23-2011, 04:36 PM

getting the new drivetrain out of the driveway... still had fluids in it and all acc attached so braking it down...

also made an awesome score on GRM forum someone is sending me a hurst ratchet shifter (he got it free in the junkyard and passing it along to a GRMer so i'll be working with a ratchet shifter... will require a little fab work to get it to work with my trans but I don't have to cut a huge hole to mount the stock volvo stuff... shame I don't have the manual valve body option for the volvo trans though

it's not pretty but if it works (untested) its def right for the challenge budget

10-25-2011, 01:43 PM

got a bunch of parts listed FS on the volvo forum (like here http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=246341 ) so I can start recouping some of the volvo budget... got a call on the s10 engine and that will be sold come the 31st... so the s10 budget will be $0 at that point (actually will be in the -$0 but can't have -$ in the challenge budget lol)

also thanks to FunkyStankyChicken (awesome screen name isn't it lol on turbobricks I scored a great price on a B cam...

stock T cam 9.94 lift 225 in duration, 218 duriation out new B cam 10.6 lift 256 in duration, 249 duration out

nothing super aggressive but will let the engine pull all the way to 6500/7000rpm and not die off around 5000 like the stock T cam does... and still not kill the low end... so should be a decent budget compromise cam for the auto-x and 1/4 mile needs running with an auto trans

10-26-2011, 02:07 PM

got my shifter today... it's not pretty but a little lube and it works great mechanically... I dig the dual mode setup it has, can work as a ratchet or more traditional... will have to fab up something on the trans end but that was expected... for whatever reason the indicator slide doesn't seem to want to fit very well (it binds)... but I don't think i'll be rocking an indicator slide anyway... I figure the ratchet will be real nice for drag and auto-x... i'll wire up a switch on the dash or something to turn on/off the OD.

also it's got no handle... could pick up a stock T style hurst shifter from ebay for $10-20... and it would look the part... but i'm thinking of cutting down part of one of the T cams and welding on a nut or something to make my own custom T shifter... we'll see

not sure what this spring goes to

10-26-2011, 11:51 PM

spent a bit of time and figured out the spring on the handle loops over the round spring at the bottom of the handle... it's so the shifter doesn't "fall" into ratchet mode unless you really want it to... nice tidbit for a street car... not so nice if you have a manual valve body (which i do not)

now to figure out how to adapt this to the volvo transmission

and yes I sat in the truck with it while shiftting and making engine noises ... will need to mount it 3-4" off the floor me thinks unless seating position changes a good bit with bucket seats... we shall see at some point.

10-27-2011, 01:47 PM

a package from canada today ... oh Canada... land of moose and snow...

er anyway got my wideband today... took long enough... part of the fun of ordering from Canada... but it's nice looking kit... shouldn't take to assembly everything... will test it out on my volvo me thinks... could have gone cheaper but like the data logging feature it gives me (along with intake, map, EGT, and some other stuff if I wire up sensors for it)

so good stuff

10-28-2011, 06:05 PM

finally got to working on the trans crossmember...

cut it open and found all kinds of junk...

cut out a notch in the crossmember... hind sight I should have done it narrower... but part of that was from the first plan that didn't pan out

camera battery died after that but I welded the plate to the bottom then cut out and welded some U shaped end plates... ran out of welding wire on the last bit so not quite finished... will pick up some more wire and finish welding the last end plate, drill the mount hole on top and a larger hole on the bottom so I can fit the nut... a bit of paint and she'll be done...

also not sure if I mentioned but I was telling a local car buddy of mine about where I was in the s10 build and mentioned I needed to find a hockey puck for the trans mount... he said he had something even better he'd give me some... of all things in FL the guy pulled out a chunk of SNOW PLOW blade... it's super dense rubber... so will need to measure and cut some of that :)

after all that i'll finally be able to work on the driveshaft stuff :)

10-28-2011, 07:50 PM

er ok charged battery a bit... as is usual ugly welds abound and the lovely splatter of flux core wire feeder... but plenty strong... ran out of wire so will finish it up tomorrow... if I ever do another project like this I'll def get a bottle and go gas.

will fit the stock volvo mount + rubber snow plow blade with plenty of room

10-29-2011, 12:34 PM

finished welding and cleaned up my welds on the cross member... cut the slot/hole for the bolt and test mounted it... need to enlarge it a tad back but it's pretty stinkin close... next time I have the member out i'll do a quick paint job over the welding (rust prevention).

then all i'll have to be finished is cutting that snow plow blade into a rubber mount... I started with a hand saw and it's ROUGH stuff to cut...

in reality I prob won't do anything under the truck till mid week or so... have to wait till next payday to afford the driveshaft and have lots of other odds and ends that I need to do anyway...

once I get the driveshaft built and in then it'll be time to yank the engine out and clean up/paint that engine bay ... wish I had my suspension stuff right now so I could paint everything in one shot... but I don't so that'll wait lol...

11-03-2011, 03:21 PM

played with the throw length of the hurst vs the stock shifter... think it's going to take a good bit of playing with the shifter arm length (on the trans itself) to get the right throw length... not looking forward to that... but will have to be done

anyway today I picked up some collets for my no name dremel tool that i've had for 7 or 8 years... was pleased to find that the standard dremel brand ones fit nicely... will need it for the finer/smaller cutting under the cross member... sometimes a 4.5" angle grinder is just to much lol...

but as long as I had it I spent a little time cutting the oil cooler hose adapters so I can use whatever random hose I want... the '90 engine I picked up also had the cooler so I plan on using one for oil and the other for trans (it's MUCH larger then the stock trans cooler)

stock hose on bottom... cut and free adapter on top

both done n finished showing how they'll fit on the oil cooler

and lastly... spent some time cutting a chunk off the snow plow blade for the trans mount... cutting that stuff is ROUGH... next time I pull the trans cross member i'll cut it down to the needed size (I cut enough for a few mounts just in case down the road I need it)

11-04-2011, 10:32 PM

got my new bumpstick in today... thanks a ton FunkyStankyChicken... will have to get a side by side pic of it and the T cam when I pull it... only about a MM of extra lift and small bit of duration... but enough to keep making power till redline without the big drop off

11-16-2011, 11:45 PM

spent a few min out in the garage tonight to clean up the '90 engine I picked up... also bolted the JY PS pump/bracket (built in reservoir from a 240)... and verified that it bolted into the lower bolt position... so I'll be able to chop down the bracket and low mount it...